For five straight months, Abilene rentals have spent less time on the market. In, February 2016, rentals spent an average of 39 days on the market and this has steadily declined to 24 days on the market realized in June 2016.

When we consider days on the market at the zip code level, the story is the same for June 2016 – homes spent less time on the market town-wide. In June 2016, rentals in 79602, 79603, 79605 and 79606 spent 7 less days on the market when compared to prior month. June rentals in 79601 beat their May pace by 20 days. Homes in the Abilene ISD mirrored Abilene’s performance, demonstrating a steady decline in days on the market over the last 5 months.

Town-wide, average total rents rose $45 per month. This roughly negates the $42 per month loss experienced in May 2016, leaving rent $66 above the 12-month average of $1,070. June 2016 rent per square foot was 3₵ above the 12-month average and the previous month. Rent per sqft saw the most dramatic gain in 79601, but with 4 booked leases for June 2016 in this ZIP code, one should be cautious when using this measure as representative of performance in northeast Abilene. When compared to May 2016, Abilene ISD rents/sqft rose 4₵ and Wylie ISD rents fell 2₵, breaking a 3-month trend of steady WISD rents at 90₵/sqft.

June 2016 rentals were 2.6% larger than those rented in the past 12 months but 1.8% smaller than homes rented in June 2015. Leased inventory in 79605 experienced the largest gain in square footage compared to the previous year. Homes in 79605 leased in June 2015 measured 1,122 sqft compared to homes leased in June 2016 which measured 1,275 sqft or a 12.8% gain in size.

42% of the homes leased in June permitted pets. This is a 10-point gain over the 12-month average and a 48.5% gain over June 2015. Pet deposits averaged $302 which was $35 above the 12-month average for pet deposits. Security deposits have risen for the last four months to a June average of $961, $86 above the 12-month average of $874. With the average size of an Abilene rental at 1,461, June deposits measured 60₵/sqft.

According to NTREIS, 71 single-family homes were leased in June 2016. These units leased at, on average, 79₵/square foot and were sized at 1,461 square feet. Consequently, these leases are estimated to deliver a June 2016 value of $81,948 to the Abilene economy. Considering the coming 12 months and the leases executed during June 2016, these leases potentially account for an $983,370 in annual contribution to Abilene’s economy.